Tech companies fear major disruption to business

The executive order asks the department of homeland security to review, within 90 days, all regulations that allow foreign nationals to work there.Avik Das&Shilpa Phadnis | TNN | February 01, 2017, 14:00 IST

Bengaluru: The Indian IT industry is worried that the imminent executive order by US President Donald Trump seeking an overhaul of work visa programmes will disrupt their operations in the short term, and have serious long-term consequences.

“It's a far bigger immediate threat than the proposed legislation,“ R Cha ndrashekhar, president of IT industry body Nasscom, said, referring to the various bills that have been introduced by legislators that seek to, among other things, increase minimum wages under work visas like H-1B and L-1. Most analysts believe that the legislation will take a long time coming, since both houses of the US Congress have to debate them.

The draft executive order, however, has a tone that is strikingly different from anything that was seen under the Obama administration. An executive order cannot change any law, but it can ask for stricter implementation of the existing laws, and ask for proposals for changes in law. And that's what the draft Trump order does.

It asks the department of homeland security (DHS) to review, within 90 days, all regulations that allow foreign nationals to work there, and determine which of those regulations violate the immigration laws or are not in America's interests. It asks the DHS to consider ways to make the process for allocating H-1B visas more efficient and ensure that beneficiaries of the programme are the best and brightest. It also orders “site visits at places of employment of L-1non-immigrant workers, including third-party work sites where L-1 workers have been placed by US employers“. The site visits are presumably to ensure no violations are occurring.

“They could immediately demand more documentation, make it more difficult to send people on these visas. It has implications for those who are already working in the US on these visas, put more pressure on them, have higher frequency of site visits,“ Chandrashekhar said.

Stephen Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell Law School, said the law concerning foreign workers in the US has not changed, but the tone has.“The Trump administration has drafted an executive order that would prioritise finding jobs for US workers over letting in foreign workers,“ he said.

The proposed legislations too are a concern, because of the mood they reflect -they are largely in tune with the concerns of the executive order. At least three have either been tabled or are in the process of being tabled.

Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of US-based outsourcing advisory firm Everest Group, said what is initially proposed (in the bills) is intended to be negotiation positions designed to create publicity and discussion.

Nasscom team to visit US in Feb

Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar said the association would be taking a team to the US in February to share its concerns about the proposed changes to the work visa programmes. “We plan to meet people in the administration, legislators,“ he said. Nasscom, he said, had already sensitised the Modi government on the matter, and the government was taking it up with the US. TNN The US President Donald Trump's decision to increase the annual income criterion for H-1B visas from $60,000 to $1,30,000 has left placement cells across engineering institutions in India worried.

So are tens of thousands of students who thought they were just three months away from a software job.

Ravi Kandasamy , head of programme management office at Kumaraguru College of Technology , Coimbatore, says many techies would now have to occupy seats in Indian offices. “This could result in delay in bringing freshers on board. Many IT giants today have software to take care of basic coding, which is the job of entry-level employees.“ IITBombay placement head Tom Mathew said it was too early to comment. “The final offer letter is yet to come but we are hoping that offers from various American companies stand,“ said another placement cell official.

Professors in Hyderabad said the move would deter many Indians from going to the US for higher education and employment. “There are many conflicting reports about the new reforms. While opportunities will shrink, we expect things to get normal,“ said Sudhakar Rao, director (branding), ICFAI Group.

Jenty Joy , vice-chairman of Consortium of Technical Institutes for Placement Services said IT majors had recruited only half the number of students this year following the change of guard in the US. With the H-1B visa bill, we are worried if students with offers will be absorbed.“

Not everyone, sees a bleak future. Sunil Jain, placement manager at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT), feels the development will not have an impact on job opportunities.“Nearly 20% of students who opt for offshore internships and higher studies in the US will face problems. However, job opportunities will not be impacted much as employees mainly hired by US-based companies work from their offices in in Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune,“ said Jain.

College of Engineering, Pune, director B B Ahuja said:“Demand for Indian human resource for IT and allied sectors will continue. They will need our services.“